Monday, May 28, 2007

MURRIETA -- Should marching a sousaphone around under the hot Murrieta sun for an hour or more while sweating buckets and blowing your lungs out be counted as physical education credit? Not according to the California Department of Education.

Thus, a 5-year-old policy allowing Murrieta Valley Unified School District's high school students to earn PE credit through their marching band class is in jeopardy and under review by district officials, who say they want to follow the law but are looking at their options.

Murrieta Superintendent Sheer said he believes many of the state's PE standards are already addressed in marching band, and that it just may be a matter of tweaking the class a little bit, in addition to dealing with some other teaching credentialing issues. But those issues don't seem insurmountable, he said.

Perhaps Board members, parents and educators in Murrieta are asking the wrong questions? They should be asking, "Does your school’s physical education program help every student attain the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for them to lead healthy, active and productive lives?" The National Association for Sport and Physical Education urges principals, teachers and parents to conduct an assessment of their school's physical education program - evaluate its strengths and weaknesses and then encourage a plan for improvement where needed. Click link for the PE Program checklist. Many other tools for evaluating your physical education program can be found on the Peaceful Playgrounds Physical Education Resource Page.